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EsperAngel's avatar
EsperAngel
Seasoned Vanguard
4 years ago
Solved

slowdowns/lagging : please check my dxdiag

I've noticed some annoying slowdowns in my games and I'm currently checking what I can do to alleviate that.
Would someone kind please check my dxdiag for errors and the like?
thanks in advance

pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    4 years ago

    @EsperAngel  It definitely sounds like at least a large part of the issue is the complexity of some of your houses.  (No need to test a new save if you've confirmed that a simpler house runs better.)  This shouldn't cause delays in loading CAS though.  If you remove all your mods and custom content, just as a test, does CAS load in a normal amount of time?  You don't need to save your progress.  Those kinds of long load times suggest that you might have bad cc or even a file made for a different Sims game.

    I do think there's only so much you can do here though.  As an example, I can start a new save and load the WC Spencer-Kim-Lewis household and see fps drops of 40% or more when simply viewing the center of the house with the game paused.  My CPU and GPU loads are relatively low, temperatures are fine, and yet performance is unimpressive.  I believe that this is a limitation of the game engine and can't be completely solved.

    One tweak that may help, although you'll need to test yourself, is a graphicsrules.sgr file made by Simp4Sims for higher-end machines.  The idea is that some of the stutter and fps drops players see can be due to the game switching between high and low level-of-detail images, so forcing one LOD all the time means less work for the game engine.  The file contains other adjustments too.  It's not a mod exactly, just a different group of graphics settings than the game would normally use, and it can be added or removed with no other work necessary whenever you want.

    If you're interested, Simp4Sims has it up on their Patreon, but it's free.  You don't need the performance version, just the regular one.  And like I said, I don't know that it will help, but it's easy to try.

9 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @EsperAngel  There's nothing in your dxdiag that would definitely explain why Sims 4 would lag, although there are a few Windows errors that could be related and are worth cleaning up regardless.  For those, please start with a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

    • Hit Windows key-X
    • Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
    • Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, and enter
    • The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
    • After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
    • Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator)”
    • Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter
    • Post the message you receive here

    Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the button to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

    For Sims 4 itself, is the lag universal, or do some saves run worse than others?  Do the lagging saves have a number of blank households in the Other Households list?  That's a known issue that wouldn't have anything to do with your computer itself.

  • EsperAngel's avatar
    EsperAngel
    Seasoned Vanguard
    4 years ago

    @puzzlezaddict thank you for taking the time to help me! I really appreciate this
    Here's what /scannow revealed and, allegated, the log file :

    Protezione risorse di Windows: file danneggiati trovati e ripristinati.
    I dettagli per il ripristino online sono inclusi nel file di log CBS disponibile in
    windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Ad esempio C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. I dettagli
    per il ripristino offline sono inclusi nel file di log specificato dal flag /OFFLOGFILE.
    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>


    Gonna restart and check for update and security updates now

  • EsperAngel's avatar
    EsperAngel
    Seasoned Vanguard
    4 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict by the way, the worst slowdowns are in my 64x64 main household of 4 sims + 1 pet, there's lots of collected stuff for display and ecolife turbines for power
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @EsperAngel  It looks like DISM and sfc did their job, so that angle should be covered.  It makes sense why you'd get some slowdowns on a 64x64 lot loaded with objects.  How bad is the lag?  Do you get fps drops, and if so, by how much?  Your hardware should handle Sims 4 fine, but the game engine may well be the limiting factor here, especially if you're not seeing the same problems, or not seeing them to the same extent, on simpler lots.

    Please also let me know how the game runs in a new save on one of the starter home lots, say one of the empty ones in Willow Creek.  I'm certainly not saying you need to play only on those lots, just that it's a useful comparison.

  • EsperAngel's avatar
    EsperAngel
    Seasoned Vanguard
    4 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict I'm glad to tell you fixing these errors already improved my games! thank you so much!
    While the lagging is still present, it's definitively improved.
    The lag is especially strong when first loading the lot, and the first loading screen really takes a lot of time.
    Usually this only happened at the start of a playthrough and then I'm free to play, but after filling the house with dream home decorator single slot cubical shelves, the next games in that lot were basically unplayable, with drops of 40-50 fps and 15 minutes long loading screens to access CAS from a mirror (I also filled many of these shelves with collectibles and the mansion is basically 5 floors total).
    After your instructions it's almost as playable as it usually was before those changes with the shelves, which I'm gonna test.
    One of my other households of 2 sims, living in a smaller lot in a small house (tiny living), has basically little to no issues, as after a sloggy loading period, the game runs perfectly.
    I also have a separate game that uses about 500-600 megabytes of CC - clothing and hairstyles mostly with a couple gameplay tweaks but without any script mods - and removing them made no difference on performance, which is set through nvidia geforce to max quality.
    A completely new game in a willow creek starter lot runs ok - I haven't tested thoroughly tbh but I will if you'd like me to
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @EsperAngel  It definitely sounds like at least a large part of the issue is the complexity of some of your houses.  (No need to test a new save if you've confirmed that a simpler house runs better.)  This shouldn't cause delays in loading CAS though.  If you remove all your mods and custom content, just as a test, does CAS load in a normal amount of time?  You don't need to save your progress.  Those kinds of long load times suggest that you might have bad cc or even a file made for a different Sims game.

    I do think there's only so much you can do here though.  As an example, I can start a new save and load the WC Spencer-Kim-Lewis household and see fps drops of 40% or more when simply viewing the center of the house with the game paused.  My CPU and GPU loads are relatively low, temperatures are fine, and yet performance is unimpressive.  I believe that this is a limitation of the game engine and can't be completely solved.

    One tweak that may help, although you'll need to test yourself, is a graphicsrules.sgr file made by Simp4Sims for higher-end machines.  The idea is that some of the stutter and fps drops players see can be due to the game switching between high and low level-of-detail images, so forcing one LOD all the time means less work for the game engine.  The file contains other adjustments too.  It's not a mod exactly, just a different group of graphics settings than the game would normally use, and it can be added or removed with no other work necessary whenever you want.

    If you're interested, Simp4Sims has it up on their Patreon, but it's free.  You don't need the performance version, just the regular one.  And like I said, I don't know that it will help, but it's easy to try.

  • EsperAngel's avatar
    EsperAngel
    Seasoned Vanguard
    4 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict you're AMAZING my game is basically reborn!
    I loaded my modded playthrough and checked if CAS was faster without any cc - there was no difference between loading times, and with or without mods, the biggest loading time was always when I'd get back to the lot, so while there may be some more complex haircuts in there or possibly bad clothing, their impact is likely negligible overall.
    When I tried the Simps4Sims cfg file however - it got so smooth! I decided to go for the performance version and also scaled light/shadows from very high to high, and it's sooo much better!
    the loading times are still longish, but the game plays fine and it's bearable now! I also plan to scale down on displayed objects - at least until some patch improves performance - since it would really sadden me to undo parts of the house, but less is more after all so I can at least play now.
    You've been so helpful and kind helping me through this - you're a gem!
    Thank you so much!
    Should you know of other game enhancing tweaks like the above, do not hesitate to tell me, I love setting games for optimal performance but I had no idea there was more to do than just using the official apps
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @EsperAngel  I'm so glad to hear you're seeing such an improvement.  You could try swapping to the regular (non-performance) file if you want: fps would be a bit lower, but the improvements in graphics might be worth it.  Or maybe you won't notice a difference.  There's no harm in swapping back and forth.

    The person who provides this file tested all the available settings and thought that these were the best combinations for performance or graphics.  From what I understand, they did extensive testing and solicited feedback from other sources too.  You could tweak the files yourself if you wanted, but I'm guessing that there aren't any better options than what's already provided, unless you wanted to create your own hybrid of the performance and regular settings.

    Since this file governs all of the game's reachable graphics settings, there isn't really anywhere else to look.  Any further improvements would be reaching into the game engine, and I haven't heard of any mods or utilities that go that far.  Maybe someone will be inspired to make one though; it would be great to see.

  • EsperAngel's avatar
    EsperAngel
    Seasoned Vanguard
    4 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict I'm gonna switch the presets between games before committing to either, I saw the shadows were really bumped up in the standard set and I don't care a lot for extra sharp shadows, but if the fps difference is negligible I'll use that one.
    Thank you again for this, you really helped me a lot, allowed me to play again and were patient and thorough <3

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